South Korean police look to charge 7 for lying about structure in Jeju Air crash

The Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air skidded off the runway at Muan International Airport in southern South Korea after its landing gear failed to deploy, slamming into a concrete structure and bursting into flames.

Authorities have found traces of bird strike in the plane’s engines and the plane’s two black boxes stopped recording about four minutes before the crash. Many experts say the concrete structure, which housed a set of antennas called a localiser that guides aircraft during landings, must be blamed for the crash as well – as it should have been built with more easily breakable materials.

Police said on Thursday the seven officials were involved in the production of media statements that said the localisers were installed in accordance with relevant domestic and international regulations, though that was not true.

Police said they referred the cases to prosecutors, asking for the seven officials to be indicted on a criminal charge of falsifying official documents. The penalty upon conviction could be up to seven years in prison. The Transport Ministry said it had no comment on the police announcement.